Dragon's life in college

Ch 42

Several weeks later, Nigel and his siblings were on their way to visit with Ryu. This time, his mother did go with him, mostly because she didn't want to risk Nigel getting lost. While one fire dragon arriving at the Water Palace was noteworthy enough for people to point him in the right direction, it wasn't quite the same so close to the Fire Palace.

Thankfully, they all arrived easily at Ryu's place. While Ryu's parents were fairly high ranked nobles, they weren't high enough to live in the city attached to the Fire Palace and so lived in a semi-complex cave system just below it.

Just as they had in the Water Palace, Ember and crew quickly made themselves at home. It wasn't long before they had both of Ryu's parents wrapped around their tiny claws.

Nigel noted the difference in how Ryu's father reacted to his eccentric siblings compared to his own father.

"He's well trained," Ryu joked.

"I can tell. I think my Mother's getting tips."

As it turned out, their mother's had both attended the same school at roughly the same time. Although they had never directly met each other during their time there, they had both heard of the other and so were happy exchanging stories.

From what Nigel could hear, most of what Ryu's mother had heard was how after asking for three years straight, his mother had finally agreed to one date with his father. Apparently, the one date had been so good that it had lead to one more and then one more, and by the time the final year was up they were officially dating.

Ryu's father chuckled slightly when he heard Ryu comment that it seemed like a very long time to wait for a dragon. "You'll understand when you meet the right one. But you'll wait thirty years for the right one to finally say yes, no matter how many times she's told you no before that."

"You didn't have to do that with Mother," Ryu pointed out.

"True, but your Mother was a lot more willing to indulge a young dragon with stars in his eyes."

Nigel listened, curious, before coming to the conclusion that asking another dragon out was a lot of wasted time and effort. Imagine all of the work that could have been done while his Father waited for his Mother to finally agree. But he supposed it was worth it in the end considering how he and his siblings were here.

As much as Nigel's mother enjoyed the brief visit, she left the next morning to return home. Nigel stayed the rest of the week before returning home. During that time, he and Ryu explored the area and kept Ember and crew out of trouble. The water dragons were much more inclined to indulge them than fire dragons were. Although that might just be because the water dragon courtiers were use to eccentric dragons and how to handle them.

"No, Ember, I do not need to go to the mountain this year." Nigel smiled down at his little brother. Ember was larger than a year ago, although he was smaller than Comet who had recently hit a growth spurt. Dragonfly and Firefly would likely be soon behind him, making Ember the oldest and smallest of the clutch.

"Good," Ember said decidedly, crawling up Nigel's leg to nestle on his neck. "Ember doesn't like Nigel to be sad. Ember also doesn't want to fly as far."

"You can just ask for a ride," Nigel said.

"No. Ember is big dragon, not a little dragonet."

"Hmmm, if you say so," Nigel said, continuing to pack. He politely refrained from commenting that if Ember was a big dragon, then he didn't need to snuggle up to his older brother. He knew Ember would state that he was still small enough for that, and quite frankly he loved having his younger siblings snuggle up to him. It had made for some interesting nights when they were younger, when he'd wake up to find all four of them sleeping on top of him or next to him seeking out his warmth. Newly hatched dragonets needed to stay warm and oftentimes lacked the ability to regulate their own temperature, thus seeking out older dragons for warmth.

"I say so," Ember said. "Oh, Comet is making Nigel a picture for a surprise. So leave enough room to fit it in."

"If it's a surprise then why are you telling me about it?"

"Because Nigel is not leaving enough room to pack it. Ember wanted to tell you so Nigel did not have to repack everything. Don't tell Comet."

"I won't. But you shouldn't ruin surprises, even if it is to warn people about them."

"Ember promises he won't. I need to go help Dragon and Fire. Ember won't tell you about what."

Ember hopped down and wandered off, his wings slightly dragging behind him. If Ember was still a little small, his wings weren't. Oh well, he'd grow into them eventually, or not, Nigel thought.

Sighing, Nigel turned back to his packing. He had a lot less to pack than he had a year ago, but a few things were always needed. Evidentially now he had to leave room for a painting as well. Critically he narrowed his eyes, looking down at the space he had left in his bag. Since Ember hadn't given him a measurement, he didn't know exactly how much space he needed to leave.

"Probably a few inches on that side and a little deeper should do it," he mused. "Unless Comet made a framed picture in which case it will need to have more space." He thought for a moment. "No, because I haven't seen Ember and crew with wood chips, and Mother wouldn't give them would. So that should be enough."

A few minutes later and he had finished packing. It really was a strange contrast to the previous year where he had been terrified of going to college. Now, he was ready and eager for it to begin.

"I wonder if it will be like this every year," Nigel thought. "Probably," he decided.